Circadian rhythms in mammalian behavior, physiology, and biochemistry are controlled by the central clock within a brain structure known as the suprachiasmatic nucleus (SCN). The clock is synchronized to environmental cycles of light and dark. It is well known, from everyday experience, that adjusting to new light schedules takes several days, though the details of how this adaptation takes place are not well understood.

Researchers now report findings that suggest this adaptatio

Researchers at University of California, San Diego (UCSD) have found that Lafora disease, an inherited form of epilepsy that results in death by the age of 30, can be caused by mutations in a gene that regulates the concentration of the protein laforin. These findings are reported in the current issue of Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS).

Lafora disease is characterized by normal development for the first decade of life, followed by an initial seizure in

Despite the efforts of governments and the World Health Organization to combine prevention measures and efforts to eradicate malaria-carrying mosquitoes, the disease kills more than a million people each year. Much is known about the microbes that cause the disease, tiny parasites of the genus Plasmodium, which have a complex life cycle involving several distinct phases and habitats. But, many details of the organism’s life cycle, including a critical stage in the parasite’s life cycle – in

Neurobiologists have discovered a specialized night-vision brain area in night-migratory songbirds. They believe the area might enable the birds to navigate by the stars, and to visually detect the earth’s magnetic field through photoreceptor molecules, whose light-sensitivity is modulated by the field.

The researchers published their findings May 23, 2005, in the early online edition of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. The collaboration was led by Henr

Naturally replaced neurons may hold the key to understanding processes of neurodegeneration

In certain parts of the brain, cells called neurons go through a cycle of death and replenishment. New research from Rockefeller University’s Fernando Nottebohm, Ph.D., shows that these replaceable neurons share something in common with the neurons that die in people with diseases such as Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s: both have unusually low levels of a protein called UCHL

No increase found in hepatitis C recurrence

Researchers seeking to enhance transplant patient care with less toxic drug regimens presented early findings of a steroid-free treatment regimen in liver transplant recipients with hepatitis C. One-year data from an open label study reported Sunday at the American Transplant Congress (ATC) suggests that a steroid-free treatment regimen including CellCept® (mycophenolate mofetil) provided comparable efficacy and safety to a standard st

Study appears in the online early edition of Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences

Using the human genome sequence annotation, high-throughput cloning methodologies, and automation, a group at the Harvard Institute of Proteomics lead by Leonardo Brizuela (Harvard Medical School lecturer on biological chemistry and molecular pharmacology) mined public databases to collect the sequence information of all identified human kinase genes and have built a gene repository for t

Penn State College of Medicine study shows for the first time in an animal model that ceramide, a naturally occurring substance that prevents the growth of cells, can be administered through the blood stream to target and kill cancer cells.

“Ceramide is the substance that accumulates in cancer tissues and helps to kill cancer cells when patients undergo chemotherapy and radiation,” said Mark Kester, Ph.D., professor of pharmacology, Penn State College of Medicine, Penn State Mil

College students who get drunk at least once a week are significantly more likely to be hurt or injured than other student drinkers, according to new research from Wake Forest University School of Medicine.

The research suggests that a simple screening question – “In a typical week, how many days do you get drunk?” – may help identify at-risk students.

“Each year approximately 1,700 college students die from alcohol-related injuries,” said Mary Claire O’Brien,

Moderate to severe cases of the nighttime breathing problem known as obstructive sleep apnea significantly increases the risk of suffering a stroke, according to a study to be presented at the American Thoracic Society International Conference on May 23.

The study of 1,475 people found that those with moderate to severe sleep apnea at the beginning of the study were 3 to 4 times more likely to have a stroke than a comparable group of patients without sleep apnea during the n

Children living close to a major road are significantly more likely to have asthma than children who live farther away, according to a study presented today at the American Thoracic Society International Conference on May 23.

The study found that children living within 75 meters (about 82 yards) of a major road had an almost 50 percent greater risk of having had asthma symptoms in the past year than were children who lived more than 300 meters (about 328 yards) away.

Milk consumption, stroke, and heart attack risk: evidence from the Caerphilly cohort of older men, J. Epidemiol Community Health 2005; 59: 502-5

A diet rich in milk does not increase the risk of heart disease and stroke, and may even be protective, concludes research in the Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health. The research team asked a representative sample of 764 men to weigh and record every item of food and drink they consumed for seven consecutive days. Just under 90

Patients with schizophrenia who are treated with the atypical antipsychotic SEROQUEL (Quetiapine) show significantly superior rates of treatment compliance compared to patients treated with other atypical and typical antipsychotics, according to new data presented today at the American Psychiatry Association (APA) meeting in Atlanta, USA. Additional data presented today also showed improved cognitive functioning for patients with schizophrenia who are treated with SEROQUEL.

The c

Oncologist from The Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia Urges Partnerships to Build R & D Pipeline

Market forces alone are not sufficient to produce new drugs needed for children with cancer, according to a new report by the Institute of Medicine (IOM). Faced with “a near absence of research in pediatric cancer drug discovery,” the IOM report recommends forming new public-private partnerships among government, industry, researchers, advocacy groups and other parties to lead r

From the June 2005 issue of Biology of Reproduction

The June 2005 issue of Biology of Reproduction includes a special paper by a team of Spanish scientists indicating that delayed motherhood in mice results in shorter life expectancy and reduced body weight in their offspring.

Negative effects of late maternal age in women, such as abnormal numbers of chromosomes in their children, are well known. However, other potential negative effects on offspring from delayed mot

University of Pittsburgh researchers have isolated two biomarkers for interstitial cystitis (IC), a chronic and painful pelvic disease for which there currently is no test. The discovery of these biomarkers could lead to a definitive test for IC and have the potential to lead to new therapies. Results of two studies are being presented today at the annual meeting of the American Urological Association (AUA) in San Antonio, and are published in abstracts 69 and 80 of the AUA proceedings.